1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in apparatus by which toilet seat assemblies can be manually lifted and lowered to access or cover an underlying toilet bowl or basin. More particularly, it relates to apparatus that is either retrofittable to the lid of a conventional two-piece toilet seat assembly, or is incorporated within the lid portion of a new two-piece toilet seat assembly to enable the user to selectively lift either the lid or the lid/seat combination without physically touching either of the lid or seat components of the assembly
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Conventional two-piece toilet seat assemblies commonly comprise a seat portion and a lid portion. The seat portion is adapted to be mounted atop a toilet basin for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis at the rear of the seat, thus enabling the user to physically lift the seat, i.e., pivot it upwardly, from an operative horizontal position atop the rim of the basin, to a non-operative, generally vertical, position in which the seat is spaced from the rim of the basin. The lid portion of the assembly, in turn, is pivotally mounted on the seat portion of the assembly, and the lid portion typically pivots about the same horizontal axis as that about which the seat portion pivots (or about an axis closely spaced from and parallel to such axis). The lid portion is adapted to be pivoted by the user between an operative position in which it overlies the seat portion of the assembly and covers the toilet basin below, and a non-operative position in which it is sufficiently spaced from the seat portion to allow use of the seat portion. In lifting the lid and/or seat portions of the assembly, it is common for the user to physically contact the bottom surface of either of the lid or seat portions in order to exert an upward force. Unfortunately, this portion of these components is often non-sanitary, making physical contact a health risk.
Various schemes have been proposed heretofore to facilitate the movement of the different toilet seat components by a user in order to avoid physical contact with the seat components. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,839, issued to R. F. Bigelow, discloses a system in which a pair of U-shaped handles is used to lift each component of a two piece seat assembly. One handle extends radially outward from the bottom of the seat portion of the assembly, and the other handle extends radially outward from the bottom of the lid portion. The handles are angularly displaced from each other so that the user may readily grasp one handle or the other. A rotatably mounted, spherically-shaped knob is attached to each handle to facilitate the lifting and pivotal movement of either component. While such a device is infallible in its operation, its appearance is aesthetically unattractive. Other types of seat handles for lifting one or the other of the seat elements of a two-piece toilet seat assembly are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,459,889 and 5,027,472. Each of the handles disclosed in these patents is relatively complex in construction and/or difficult to access, and some are only useful for raising the seat/lid combination, and not the lid portion alone. Thus, it will be appreciated that a need still exists to provide a relatively simple and low-cost apparatus by which the lid portion or the lid/seat combination of a two-piece toilet seat assembly can be selectively lifted and lowered without the necessity for physically contacting the underside of either component of the seat assembly.